Stavridis added, “A good day for NATO. A great day for the people of Libya.”

And a historic day for the way we interact. NATO has yet to put out any such official press release; its last one on Thursday merely said the North Atlantic Council would consider the issue of ending the war as early as Friday. Stavridis hasn’t even posted the announcement on his NATO blog. But for good measure, he also tweeted his big news.

“Who could have predicted,” asks my colleague Mike Isaac in WIRED’s new app guide, discussing Facebook’s mobile app, “that one skinny nerd from Harvard would completely change the definition of social experience in the 21st century?” The power of Mark Zuckerberg’s creation has been on display all year as the Arab Spring has reshaped the Middle East.

Stavridis’ announcement is another milestone for social media. In this day and age, it’s rare for wars to end at all. But now, major geopolitical announcements like the conclusions of hostilities occur through fora typically used for sharing goofy videos or telling people how tasty their sandwich was.

Let me formally apologize to Adm. Stavridis for knocking his use of social media last year in a piece on the “Military’s Worst Tweeters.” Back in December, I was surprised that the technophilic Stavridis — considered one of the brightest Naval officers of his generation — largely used his Facebook and Twitter accounts for publishing inane material. Suffice it to say that this announcement renders my criticism irrelevant. My apologies, admiral.

The North Atlantic Council still has to formally vote to end the conflict. But once Stavridis submits his recommendations, it’s as good as over. And if you’re a fan of the admiral’s Facebook page, you learned of his intent to end the war before many officials in NATO capitals did.